[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Originally Posted by skyhigh07

Then why are cities like Paris, Vienna, Venice Florence, Prague etc considered to be the pinnacle of architectural and aesthetic beauty? Why must we reject thousands of years of classicism only to push the limits of a static experiment? A static experiment, which has established "simplicity" through stoicism and functionalism.

I guess its a matter of preference I suppose...

You can have Hong Kong; I'll take Paris.

Well like I stated newer buildings are more about how high can we go and what shape can it be rather than how beautiful can we make it. We gravitate toward old buildings beauty because like was said its no longer made therefore its unique and because much more work went into the small detailing of the structures. Ive always thought of it this way when architects didnt have the elevator to build skyscrapers they poured their creativity into making their buildings beautiful. This also has to do with how materials have changed over the years, you cant sculpt a rococo facade with glass. On that note nobody is going to want to spend triple the money to build a 1000+ foot rococo building, that would make economical sense. Hence the need for modernism.